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American Idol

Changleen

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,919
2,886
Pōneke
I shudder to type that phrase, but I thought this was funny:

US idol more popular than the president
JACQUI GODDARD IN MIAMI

RONALD Reagan set a record when he received 54.5 million votes to claim the United States presidency in 1984. In 2004, George Bush broke it with nearly 62 million under his belt.

But in a new indicator of just how seriously America takes its elections - or, perhaps, how seriously it takes the post of president - a grey-haired soul singer from Alabama has eclipsed both by scooping an unprecedented 63.4 million votes to claim a far loftier title: the new American Idol.

"That's more than any president in this country has ever received," the show's host, Ryan Seacrest, yelled as the audience erupted and Taylor Hicks, the newly declared 'Most Important Man in America', flung his head back in triumph before doubling up in shock.

The crowning of Hicks, 29, whose thatch of prematurely grey hair, spasmodic dance moves and raw vocals captivated viewers more than the sultry sound and smouldering looks of Katharine McPhee, 22, his fellow finalist from California, capped the most successful season yet of American Idol.

Yesterday's result came on the heels of a survey last month that found one in ten Americans had voted on American Idol and 35 per cent of viewers said that they considered the vote as important - if not more important - than if it were for the presidency.

"What if - and I'll throw this challenge out to President Bush - we do 'President Idol'?," Simon Cowell, the show's co-creator and sole British judge, suggested at the time. "A couple of songs, a bit of dancing, and I'll judge it. Maybe that's how we should decide the next president."

Hicks's win was being dissected, scrutinised and number-crunched yesterday, with analysts even considering how it might translate had it been a political election. Hicks hails from a Red State - one that traditionally votes Republican - and McPhee from a Blue, or Democratic, state, they noted. In line with previous Idol wins, it was perhaps a victory for the Republicans.

Like all good elections, the voting has been fraught with controversy, however, and conspiracy theorists were out in force yesterday, sounding like Al Gore and John Kerry's supporters did in 2000 and 2004 after Bush won the White House.

Much of the uproar centred on semi-finalist Chris Daughtrey, who had been hotly tipped to win but was evicted last week after gaining fewer telephone votes than Hicks or McPhee. Some of Daughtrey's fans claimed that when they called to cast a vote for the slick rocker, they heard a recorded message from the syrupy McPhee thanking them for backing her.

An online petition calling for an inquiry and a recount has mustered 38,000 signatures.

However, Fox television has defended the process as "the most sophisticated voting system in existence".
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*shudder* :dead:

"The people have been successfully opiated, Sir!"
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
False class conciousness wins!

I detest American Idol with a passion. Most television shows with the word "American" in them suck.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
blue said:
False class conciousness wins!

I detest American Idol with a passion. Most television shows with the word "American" in them suck.
Click to expand...
Greatest American Hero?
 
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